Editorial

Scoop up this Franchise Opportunity from Häagen-Dazs, The Finest Ice Cream in the World®

Haagen-Dazs <a href='http://www.bison.com/Ice_Cream_Franchises' style='font-weight:normal;'>Ice Cream Franchise</a> Opportunity

What sets Häagen-Dazs^® ice cream apart from the competition is also what sets it apart from other ice cream Franchise opportunities – the ice creams is simply the best. Häagen-Dazs is known around the world as the Superpremium ice cream and for good reason.

“It’s all about the product,” says Dawn Uremovich, general manager of The Häagen-Dazs Shoppe Company in Minneapolis. “You taste it once and you know that Häagen-Dazs ice cream is better than any other you’ve tasted.”

Why is it better? The ice cream was developed by Ruben Mattus of Bronx, NY, who wanted to create the highest quality product possible. He looked around the world for the best ingredients and created three flavors: vanilla, chocolate and coffee. “His formula, still used today and referred to as the ‘Gold Standard,’” says Uremovich, “is high in butterfat and low in overrun (overrun is the air added to make the ice cream scoopable).” The ingredients Mattus used were indeed premium: the original coffee came from Columbia and the original chocolate came from Belgium.

Why the quirky name? “It’s all a bit of folklore,” explains Uremovich, “but what I understand is that Mattus wanted something that sounded foreign because of the source of the ingredients. This was during the sixties when there was a Swedish-modern movement going on here that made Swedish names ‘cool.’ So Mattus invented the name. It is a made-up word, not Swedish,” adds Uremovich, “but even today it gives the ice cream the mystique of being a bit exotic.”

Häagen-Dazs began Franchising in the mid-1970s and today has 144 franchisees in 235 locations in the US. “We are more heavily populated along the coasts,” says Uremovich. The northeast has the largest concentration of Häagen-Dazs^® Shops and the next heaviest concentration is Florida and then California. “This has a lot to do with how we spread across the country. People would go on vacation, taste our ice cream, and then contact us to open one in their community. For many years, we made no deliberate effort to franchise; they came to us.

“We are very popular in tourist areas, such as our locations in both Disney sites and the Navy Pier in Chicago. There are also over 400 Shops internationally so foreign visitors to US tourist locations will recognize Häagen-Dazs as something familiar, something from home and something having high quality.”

A Häagen-Dazs Shop will offer between 24 and 32 flavors and all the toppings. “That’s one of the benefits of going to a Shop,” says Uremovich. “The ice cream is also available in grocery stores, but ice cream lovers craving choices often encounter a greater variety in Häagen-Dazs Shops, and can select from a variety of toppings. Also, our Shops offer some incredible desserts. We have a line of Dazzler™ frozen desserts - these are what I call vertical sundaes and are just to die for. We also do a lot of ice cream cakes for all occasions and they are tremendously popular.”

Häagen-Dazs Shops reflect the quality of the ice cream by their high end build-out and location in malls with upscale anchor stores, upscale commercial buildings, near restaurants and theaters, airport, theme parks, etc. A popular treat in Las Vegas, there are Häagen-Dazs Shops in the MGM Grand and The Venetian. Size of the franchise locations vary, however, from as small as a kiosk to the 3,000 sq ft location at the Navy Pier.

“The most important quality we want from someone looking to own a Häagen-Dazs Shop is passion for the brand. We are not like any other ice cream company and we are proud of the quality of our product. We don’t want people who just want an ice cream store,” adds Uremovich. “We want people who want a Häagen-Dazs Shop because they understand the importance of our brand and our quality.” Franchisee candidates should also be willing and able to maintain the integrity of the brand and be willing to follow the system.

Häagen-Dazs was acquired by Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream about a year and a half ago and franchise locations often follow where the retail brand is going because there is better market penetration. Right now that area is California, Oregon and Washington. The next biggest push is the mid-Atlantic, particularly the Carolinas. “These are huge tourist areas and the ice cream consumption there is enormous,” says Uremovich.

The most popular flavor in the US? “Vanilla,” says Uremovich, “but not because people are boring. Vanilla is used as a base for sundaes and in other desserts like ice cream cakes. Of course our vanilla ice cream is superb.” Surprisingly the second most popular flavor is not chocolate; it’s dulce de leche, introduced about nine years ago. “This came from our South American market,” says Uremovich, “where dulce de leche is a popular dessert. The flavor followed the Hispanic population to Florida and then across the country. We describe it as a milky caramel ice cream with caramel swirls – unbelievably good!”

Keeping up with flavor preferences is just one of the duties for the Minneapolis staff. They’ve recently done some taste testing on a new “light” line of ice cream. “We’ve come up with a revolutionary technology that eliminates half of the fat and two-thirds of the calories,” says Uremovich, “but we still have all of the creaminess. In blind taste tests, even our staff couldn’t tell the difference between the light and classic flavors. It’s still all natural and contains the same ingredients; it is just the technology that is different.”

Complete training and support is provided to franchisees from the Minneapolis office and Uremovich assures us that everyone there is equally passionate about the brand.

What’s the greatest benefit of an association with Häagen-Dazs? “Everyone I meet thinks I must have the best job in the world,” says Uremovich. “There is such tremendous name recognition and such a positive association with our brand. Everyone has a favorite Häagen-Dazs flavor or a suggestion for a new one. I’ve been here seven years and couldn’t be more proud of the quality and integrity of our product. Hands down, it’s absolutely the best.”